A trade team from Taiwan headed by former Vice President Vincent Siew visited Capitol Hill Wednesday, once more receiving strong support from US Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and best known to Taiwanese for his role as co-chair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus. Menendez said he has requested the US Trade Representative to include Taiwan in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks.

Siew visited high-ranking Senator Menendez together with several Taiwanese business leaders including Terry Gou of Hon Hai Precision. Menendez, who visited Taiwan in August 2013 and is dedicated to promoting US-Taiwan relations, told the delegation he is pushing the US Trade Representative to help Taiwan join the TPP talks.

Accompanied by AIT Chairman Raymond Burghardt, the Taiwan trade team visited a number of heavyweight congressmen including Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), and House members Steve Chabot (R-OH), John Carter (R-TX), and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), exchanging opinions on bilateral economic and business cooperation.

Terry Gou of Hon Hai had a private talk with Menendez about investment opportunities in New Jersey after the team meeting. Asked about his investment plans in a media interview, Gou said he might reconsider the location of possible business investments in the US after several rounds of talks by the trade team.

Earlier this year Hon Hai was rumored to be eyeing expansion in the US, building more manufacturing plants to effectively reach out to the largest consumer market of the world. Gou added that investing in the US is good for Taiwan's economy and its bid to join the TPP talks.